The Devastation On The Nation Tour Levels The Belasco On November 26th

- advertisement -

All Photos By Thomas Delgado/@forthehordeprod/@batforcetom

One of the very few tour packages that is dedicated to the more extreme side of Metal; Black, Grind, Brutal Death and all their tangents is the DEVASTATION ON THE NATION. It has grown into one if not the heaviest built events, picking up slack where formerly heavy packages like SUMMER SLAUGHTER falls short. Dedicated to keeping things truly extreme, year after year it does not disappoint. Even when the headliners of this years tour had dropped out, their replacements were nothing short of brilliant. On this years rendition was KNOLL who started out the night, followed by FULCI, then MORTIFERUM, UADA, SUFFOCATION and I AM MORBID.

Starting out the night with some Funeral Grind and hailing from America (Tennessee) was KNOLL. Shrouded in darkness, this wall of noise that I'd describe as Artistic had me feeling PORTAL (AUS) and NEUROSIS vibes. Singer Jamie Eubanks' (son of Keith Merrow of CONQUERING DYSTOPIA) intense vocal approach was complimented with what can simply be described as "electronics", vocal processors and effects to take their sound even more over the top. Really impressed me in their half-hour of time. Call it avant-garde or experimental but KNOLL hits the nail on the head. Independently, they just released their 3rd record As Spoken.

One group I was looking forward to finally catching was FULCI. From Italy, it's no coincidence that they're named after the same Horror Hall Of Fame Director/Writer, Lucio Fulci. As you might have expected, they included some great visuals with a screen behind them showing clips of Fulci's amazing work as well as some sound bites. The band FULCI did not disappoint as they threw down some good old fashioned tasty Groove-oriented Death Metal with hints or gore-grind and slam with the horror and gore aesthetic of MORTICIAN and early CANNIBAL CORPSE rolled into one. They as well just recently released an album, their 5th and titled Duck Face Killings (20 Buck Spin). Although limited energy from them on stage, the experienced crowd was eating it up like Zombi(es), leaving me thoroughly impressed.

Keeping with the theme happening so far in the night was MORTIFERUM from Washington. Their sound, akin to IMMOLATION and INCANTATION, overshadowed only by their lit logo above the stage, their silhouettes stood focused on every hanging note of pummeling doom. As their set went on, the reaction from the crowd grew as evident by the rhythmic pit happening while necks were breaking, headbanging harder and harder with every beat. A young band with only 2 albums so far are one to keep an ear out for.

Another group I heard talked about a lot was UADA from Oregon. Part of the hoodie-wearing gimmicks like that of MIDNIGHT, though their sound was nothing like them, UADA's style is Melodic Black Metal with some catchy riffs that gave me DISSECTION feels. Mystique in the form of costumes can only go so far in the extreme world, so you better have the music to back that up and UADA definitely did. Despite the lack of activity from the crowd who only stood and watched, it didn't take away from the band's performance. With their latest album Crepuscule Natura receiving a 100% from Metallum, could this group be, more or less as successful without the hoods is anyone's guess, but the most does speak volumes when it comes to modern Black Metal.

SUFFOCATION has become one of those bands that I've come to catch every single time they come through Los Angeles. Didn't take long for fans to get used to the changing of the guard with Ricky, Eric and Charlie coming into the SUFFO' camp who along with Derek and Terrance, have done an amazing job in keeping SUFFOCATION highly relevant in the Brutal Death Metal conversation. Opening up their set with "Seraphim Enslavement", a cut from their latest Hymns Of Apocrypha, and album that was definitely a Best of 2023, made the crowd immediately open things up in the pit. I, like everyone else, was eager to see SUFFO' this night. The new songs went over quite well and made up for any shortcomings since their last stop in Los Angeles as we got to hear more new material in their set that obviously felt too short. We did get to hear fan favorites "Pierced From Within", "Funeral Inception" and "Catatonia", and the crowd went insane throughout their whole set, let alone the whole successful night. As Ricky towered over the crowd and Derek's trademark stance, the mighty SUFFOCATION laid down the brutality once again.

In a clever and convenient move for DEVASTATION ON THE NATION, it was formerly MORBID ANGEL to headline this festival but whatever circumstances had them bow out only to be replaced by MORBID ANGEL, or that's to say the Pete Sandoval and David Vincent of MA known as I AM MORBID. A totally win-win for everyone. There is no wrong answer as to which one prefers, either the Steve Tucker era or Vincent era. A different and upgraded version from the last time David Vincent brought this name to Los Angeles (2019..?), as this time around it felt heaps more appropriate to have The Commando Pete Sandoval back on drums, along with Vincent and since 2016 has been Bill Hudson (U.D.O., Doro Pesch) and now Richie Brown. These 2 combined on guitars simply elevated I AM MORBID's sound throughout the venue (despite sound issues). Covering the first few albums of David's and Pete's career; Altars Of Madness, Blessed Are the Sick, Covenant and Domination - it was almost enough to take you back to the early years of MORBID ANGEL.... almost. Vincent has embraced a more of a singing approach to some of the songs (think the way of James Hetfied's later approach to METALLICA). Nevertheless hindrances or not aside, relentlessly pile-driving through 16 songs, they had the crowd in total rapture. All night, the pit was a maze of torment with many fans who were sworn to the black, singing along to every song. To see the Master Pete "The Feet" in action and Vincent together made this long-time fan very happy. Their fall from grace into 1 great classic after another without flaw. We knew going into this show that I AM MORBID would dominate, and that they did. You needed eyes to see and ears to hear this momentous event. Having just interviewed Pete earlier and sign my ticket from 28 years ago for a show that had MORBID ANGEL, DISSECTION and AT THE GATES together - made 17 year old me very happy.

These days, having a bill of bands all with closely similar styles is way under-appreciated. This night and DEVASTATION ON THE NATION as a whole is a great tour package that has maintained the integrity of what a true Extreme Metal festival should be.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Thomas Delgado/@forthehordeprod/@batforcetom